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Calvados
Calvados
Department
	From top down, left to right: Abbaye aux Dames in Caen, Bayeux's historic centre, Omaha Beach and timber framing house in Boissey
	Flag Coat of arms
	Location of Calvados in France
	Coordinates: 49°02′N 0°15′E / 49.033°N 0.250°E
Country	France
Region	Normandy
Prefecture	Caen
Subprefectures	Bayeux; Lisieux; Vire-Normandie
Government
• President of the Departmental Council	Jean-Léonce Dupont (New Centre)
Area 1
• Total	5,535 km2 (2,137 sq mi)
Population (2021)
• Total	700,633
• Rank	34th
• Density	130/km2 (330/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	FR-14
Department number	14
Arrondissements	4
Cantons	25
Communes	528
	^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Calvados (UK: /ˈkælvədɒs/, US: /-doʊs, ˌkælvəˈdoʊs, ˌkɑːlvəˈ-/, French: [kalvados] ^ⓘ)^{[needs Norman IPA]} is a department in the Normandy region in northwestern France.^[3] It takes its name from a cluster of rocks off the Normandy coast. In 2019, it had a population of 694,905.^[4]

History

Calvados is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790, in application of the law of 22 December 1789. It had been part of the former province of Normandy. The name "Orne-Inférieure" was originally proposed, but it was ultimately called Calvados after a group of rocks off its coast.

One popular legend ascribes its etymology to the Salvador, a ship from the Spanish Armada that sank by the rocks near Arromanches-les-bains in 1588. It is more likely, however, that the name Calvados was derived from calva dorsa, meaning bare backs, in reference to two sparsely vegetated rocks off its shore.^[5]

After the allied victory at Waterloo the department was occupied by Prussian troops between June 1815 and November 1818.

On 6 June 1944, the Allied forces landed on the beaches of the Bay of the Seine in what became known as the Battle of Normandy.

Geography

Calvados belongs to the region of Normandy and borders the departments of Seine-Maritime (maritime border), Eure, Orne and Manche. To the north is the Baie de la Seine, part of the English Channel. On the east, the river Seine forms the boundary with Seine-Maritime. Calvados includes the Bessin area, the Pays d'Auge and the area known as the "Suisse normande" ("Norman Switzerland").

The most notable places in Calvados include Deauville and the formerly elegant 19th-century casino resorts along the coast.

Economy

Agriculture dominates the economy of Calvados. The area is known for producing butter, cheese, cider, and Calvados, the apple spirit that takes its name from the area.

Politics

The President of the Departmental Council is the centrist Jean-Léonce Dupont, the former dominant figure of the right and centre in the department. The Conseil General of Calvados and Devon County Council signed a Twinning Charter in 1971 to develop links with the English county of Devon.^[6]

Party		seats
	Socialist Party	18
•	Miscellaneous Right	18
•	The Republicans	6
	Left Radical Party	3
•	New Centre	3
•	MoDem	1

Presidential elections 2nd round

	Winning Candidate	Party	%	2nd Place Candidate	Party	%
2022	Emmanuel Macron	LREM	60.29	Marine Le Pen	FN	39.71
2017^[7]	Emmanuel Macron	LREM	67.11	Marine Le Pen	FN	32.89
2012^[8]	François Hollande	PS	53.12	Nicolas Sarkozy	UMP	46.88
2007	Nicolas Sarkozy	UMP	51.20	Ségolène Royal	PS	48.80
2002	Jacques Chirac	RPR	83.95	Jean-Marie Le Pen	FN	16.05

Current National Assembly Representatives

	Member	Party
Calvados's 1st constituency	Fabrice Le Vigoureux	La République En Marche!
Calvados's 2nd constituency	Laurence Dumont	Socialist Party
Calvados's 3rd constituency	Sébastien Leclerc	The Republicans
Calvados's 4th constituency	Christophe Blanchet	La République En Marche!
Calvados's 5th constituency	Bertrand Bouyx	La République En Marche!
Calvados's 6th constituency	Alain Tourret	La République En Marche!

Demography

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1791	391,352	—
1801	451,836	+1.45%
1806	505,210	+2.26%
1821	492,613	−0.17%
1831	494,702	+0.04%
1841	496,198	+0.03%
1851	491,210	−0.10%
1861	480,992	−0.21%
1872	454,012	−0.52%
1881	439,830	−0.35%
1891	428,945	−0.25%
1901	410,178	−0.45%
1911	396,318	−0.34%

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1921	384,730	−0.30%
1931	401,356	+0.42%
1936	404,901	+0.18%
1946	400,026	−0.12%
1954	442,991	+1.28%
1962	480,757	+1.03%
1968	519,695	+1.31%
1975	560,967	+1.10%
1982	589,559	+0.71%
1990	618,478	+0.60%
1999	648,385	+0.53%
2006	671,351	+0.50%
2016	693,679	+0.33%

source:^[9]^[10]

The inhabitants of Calvados are called "Calvadosiens" (male) and "Calvadosiennes" (female). In 2019, Calvados had 648,299 inhabitants, making it the 34th most populated French department.^[4]

Age distribution in Calvados (2019):^[11]

75 years and older: 10.0%
60–74 years old: 18.1%
45–59 years old: 19.4%
30–44 years old: 17.4%
15–29 years old: 18.0%
0–14 years old: 17.1%

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Caen, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 6 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:^[4]

Commune	Population (2019)
Caen	106,230
Hérouville-Saint-Clair	22,555
Lisieux	20,038
Vire Normandie	16,590
Bayeux	12,682
Ifs	11,696

Culture

The Bayeux Tapestry is on display in Bayeux and makes the city one of the most-visited tourist destinations in Normandy.

Juno Beach Centre at Courseulles-sur-Mer, Calvados, commemorates the D-Day landing of the Canadian liberation forces at Juno Beach during World War II in 1944. The cult of Saint Thérèse de Lisieux brings large numbers of people on pilgrimage to Lisieux, where she lived in a Carmelite convent. Every September, Deauville hosts the Festival of the American Movie and the beach resort of Cabourg hosts the Festival of the Romantic Movie. Annually, the city of Caen celebrates the festival of the electronical cultures called "Nordik Impakt" and the festival of Beauregard, just around Caen.

The local dialect of the Norman language is known as Augeron. It is spoken by a minority of the population.

Tourism

Calvados is one of the most visited areas in France because of its seaside resorts which are among the most prestigious in France with their luxurious hotels, casinos, green countryside, manors, castles, the quiet, the chalk cliffs, the typical Norman houses, the history of William the Conqueror, Caen, Bayeux, Lisieux, the famous D-day beaches and numerous museums about the Second World War. Culinary specialties from the verdant countryside of Calvados are abundant: cider, calvados, camembert, and Pont-l'Évêque cheeses.

One of the advantage of Calvados is to be fairly near large urban centers (Paris, Ile de France). Calvados is therefore often preferred for holidays and for weekends and sometimes considered as the countryside of Paris.

Calvados, via the port of Ouistreham, is an entrance to the continent from Britain. There are two airports: Caen-Carpiquet and Deauville-Saint Gatien. The department of Calvados has several popular tourist areas: the Bessin, the Plain of Caen, the Bocage Virois, the Côte de Nacre, the Côte Fleurie and the Pays d'Auge. Several beaches of Calvados are popular for water sports, including Cabourg and Merville-Franceville-Plage.

Tourist capacity (2022):^[11]

10,200 hotel rooms
14,410 camping sites
12,795 other beds (tourist resorts, holiday villages, rural gites, youth hostels)

Second homes

As of 2019, 17.9% of available housing in the department were second homes.^[11]

Municipalities with more than 20% of second homes

Communes with population over 2,000 and more than 20% of second homes in 2019^[12]
Town	Municipal population	Percentage of second homes
Villers-sur-Mer	2,543	83.0%
Cabourg	3,558	79.7%
Deauville	3,565	71.9%
Trouville-sur-Mer	4,603	67.4%
Merville-Franceville-Plage	2,186	57.9%
Courseulles-sur-Mer	4,196	52.2%
Bernières-sur-Mer	2,274	44.3%
Dives-sur-Mer	5,276	39.9%
Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer	2,237	39.5%
Hermanville-sur-Mer	3,110	31.7%
Luc-sur-Mer	3,213	30.1%
Lion-sur-Mer	2,536	29.8%
Honfleur	6,733	27.9%
Ouistreham	9,344	25.8%
Touques	3,731	25.0%

Caen
Château de Falaise
A fragment of the Bayeux Tapestry
Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial
Half-timber houses in Beuvron-en-Auge, one of the Most Beautiful Villages of France

Sport

Aquatic sports are often played on the coasts and beaches, for example, kite surfing and beach volleyball. Stade Malherbe Caen is a professional football team from Caen, who currently play in Ligue 2.